Mylan and Pharmacy Benefit Managers Face Lawsuit Over Alleged RICO Violations

Mylan and three pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)  — CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx — must face a class-action lawsuit claiming that the drugmaker paid bribes and kickbacks to the three companies to ensure a monopoly market for EpiPen, a federal judge has ruled.

The defendants had asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to dismiss the lawsuit, in which plaintiff drug wholesalers Rochester Drug Co-Operative and Dakota Drug allege that the defendants violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which is more usually associated with the federal government’s efforts to fight organized crime. They also allege that Mylan violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Judge Eric Tostrud dismissed the PBM companies’ arguments that the plaintiffs did not allege plausible RICO claims and Mylan’s argument that the plaintiffs did not allege a plausible antitrust monopoly claim.